Tutorial 4

The key reading is Ralph Milibands paper Class Analysis and picks up from the final question from last weeks reading
about the nature and significance of class for Marx and later Marxian analysis. In this paper Miliband, a late 20 th Century
Marxist attempts to defend and extend Marxs approach to understand modern Capitalism.

1) Miliband argues that exploitation is crucially to understanding class struggle- why is this and why does he wish
to add to it the category of domination?
Class struggle has constituted the crucial fact of social life from the remote past to the present. Relationship
between owners and producers is one of exploitation, denote the expropriation of surplus labour and allocation of
surplus product by people over whom the producers have little or no control. Class analysis is concerned with a
process of class domination and class subordination which is an essential condition for the process of
exploitation. Domination makes exploitation possible.

2) How does the ruling or dominant class exercise power in society?

Dominant class constituted by virtue of its effective control over mainly three main resources of domination:
means of production, ownership of these means, means of state administration and coercion and main means of
communication and consent

3) What is the relationship between, what Miliband terms, the power elite and the dominant class?
Power elite of advanced capitalist society is made up of 2 distinct elements: control industrial, financial and
commercial enterprises and who controls commanding positions in state system, power elites constitutes top layer
of dominant class. Others: people who controls medium sized firms, professional class, from upper levels of
credentialised part of social structure. Distinguish from power elites by power.

4) What significance does Miliband give for the existence of divisions within social classes? What are these
divisions inside the dominant class and the working class?
Capitalist class comprises of conflictual fractions and groupings. Dominant class and subordinate class of
capitalist in the society. Divisions are greatly political importance, represent apex and base of pyramid
characteristic of social structure of advanced capitalists societies. Petty bourgeoisie= sub classes, subordinate
population of advanced capitalists societies. Underclass, unbale to enter labour market.

5) What then are the key tasks for class analysis for a modern critical social science and what relationship should it
have to the analysis of other forms of oppression, sexism, racism etc?
Involves detail information of classes and subclasses which make up the societies, tracing of social map.
Demonstrate precise structure and mechanism of exploitation and domination in which surplus labour is
extracted, concerned with the conflict between classes. Leading conservative class maintain and strengthen social
order, subordinate class or activist minority is involved in permanent process of pressure from below, modify and
improve or end subordination.

Pressure from above: struggle for hegemony and control over subordinate population, ideological and
socialization of them into existing social system, media, church, schools, defeat of the counter hegemonic forces
which a system of domination and exploitation necessary engenders. Use of political system to strength social
order, welfare to maintain and reproduction of an efficient labour force

Statism: constant expansion of state power, bureaucratization in modern society, maintain and defense class
system. Rolling back the state by Thatcher and Reagan, erosion of welfare provision and reduce resilience of
working class

Reformation: extension of collective and welfare services, civic rights, political rights, structure of property,
privilege and power is safe from assault from labour. Capitalist democracy exercised by reformist labour leaders
who advocates moderation, conciliation, compromise

1917: Defend the national interest against other capitalist state and prevent the spread of communism, shaped the
character of international relations since 1945. Difference between communist and capitalist is the exclusive position of
upper most reach of party and the state that determines membership of power elite, no element of capital ownership,
others depend on the function it performs

They claimed class analysis is incapable of explaining those. They are members of class and social structure, social being
where different identity exists, divide society horizontally, social closure relates to the competition between workers that
capitalism impose on them